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Regular readers of the RJG (do such people really exist? Questions...) will know we are big fans of New Mexican cuisine, to the point where we travel there at least annually. Presumably just to eat. And, well, that's not far from the truth.

So why have we been so tardy to review Mi Dia From Scratch, since they've been open for over 6 years now? I have to admit I was a bit reluctant originally. They had been advertised as something of a Mexico City interior kind of place, with New Mexican seemingly a "throw in", and their menu lacked any authenticity in this area. But over time, they fine tuned that menu, and we've now been a few times, and it's superb each visit. Mi Dia is one of only a couple of restaurants in DFW that knows that Christmas has another meaning outside of a religious event or a holiday.

Let's get this out of the way first: This isn't a fast casual restaurant, nor a mid priced family dining establishment. Mi Dia…

There was a time when finding a good Thai restaurant in Northeast Tarrant was quite a challenge. Think back 15 years ago. Back then we liked Thai Chili (Southlake - now in Roanoke), Top Thai (NRH - long closed), Thai Rice (Grapevine - now Thai Riverside), and Bangkok Cuisine (Haltom City - still around, but new owners). And Sweet Basil had yet to get the new owners that transformed them to a 5 star place.

Now it seems all one has to do is go outside... and turn right.

Which brings us to Ocha FTW, the latter appellation added to distinguish itself from a similarly named restaurant in Denton. This isn't our first encounter with the restaurant setting. According to the RJG archives (yes, deep in the labyrinths of the Earth, a virtual time machine), we tried a place called D. Asian almost exactly 6 years ago. It wasn't bad at all, but not enough to get us to add to the rotation.

Ocha FTW is good enough to add to the regular Thai rotation. We were very impr…

A long time ago we mentioned this small taqueria in a post about what we thought might be - or not, never was sure - of a related restaurant. That restaurant later became Las Pinatas in far north Fort Worth and is now gone as well.

According to my personal database, my last visit to Jalapeno's Taqueria was in November of 2009, about a year and a half into this blog. It didn't leave much of a mark, and we forgot about it. Well Mrs. RJG and I were in the mood for some tacos, and it's not that far from where we reside, so we thought we'd try it again.

And now I remember why it didn't leave a mark. It's pretty average fare for a taqueria. It seems to be popular though, and it's a small family run business, so I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I tried four street tacos: Ground beef, chipotle chicken tinga, al pastor, and carne asada. That's the order I ate them in. The ground beef was just flavorless mush, and I didn&…

Coffee, eh? Well, why not... We've not reported on the coffee places we go to, and that's probably because it never was a focus area for the RJG. That's about to change. And what better place to begin that journey but at Kindred Coffee Co., which is not too far from the RJG stable.

Kindred Coffee offers a full array of pastries, bakery items, salads, wraps, fruit juices, and teas. And of course various types of coffee, espresso's, and frozen concoctions thereof. On this visit I tried the Mocha Frappe, which is their variation of Starbucks' famous Frappuccino. And like any decent coffee house, Kindred blows away the watered down cheap Starbucks variation. It is quite decadent, and packs a caffeine wallop as bits of espresso beans are ground up within (which you can taste), and topped with whipped cram and chocolate. I was climbing the walls at home for 2 hours straight. An organic energy boost that tastes great. Mrs. RJG, who cannot take caf…

So we begin our Baltimore sojourn at Alexander’s Tavern. As apropos as anywhere else the RJG frequents in Baltimore I suppose. As mentioned in the year end update, I started working in Baltimore in November of 2016 and I’m here/there roughly once a month give or take a week. While my job and role have changed immensely in the last one year plus, the places I frequent to dine and drink have not. My current company is decidedly a non-liquid lunch kind of environment (dinner is a different story…). And I couldn’t see how it would be anyway, as I pretty much work non-stop from 5a to 6p (sometimes more), except to pull away for 30 minutes (or maybe an hour) of lunch bliss and an hour in the morning to run the beautiful Inner Harbor/Fells Point, which is quite picturesque at sunrise while running the wooden boardwalk. I state all of this because dinner for me is all about the taverns and brewhouses. I have isolated the non-alcoholic restaurants to lunch and the ones…

Time to ring in the new year. And what better way with some meaty barbecue! As mentioned in the 2017 recap, Roscoe's is a place we visited once earlier in the year, but didn't get any notes down. So it was first on my list to revisit.

Many old time Keller residents will most certainly remember Up-N-Smoke, a very good BBQ place, but sat in a dilapidated old building that was in much need of repair. The original owner decided to retire and the place sat vacant for a short while. Southlake's Feedstore stepped in, spruced it up, but they didn't last too long in that location. It was probably too close to their flagship restaurant, and likely ate into the same client base (so to speak). This was followed by Roscoe's from Burleson - now we're talking a new client base! They expanded even further the original building, adding a full bar area, with flat screens and the whole nine yards. Roscoe's feels like a Texas barbecue place - lots of w…

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Who is the RJG anyway?

Established in 2008, The Regular Joe's Guide is a defiantly independent, non-profit, anonymous blog dedicated to providing information about the enormous amount of great restaurants out in the world today. We do this as a public service, with no personal benefit, other than to continue to be able to eat at these fine establishments. It is important to maintain our anonymity in order to be completely objective, and not be swayed by freebies or other promotions. We like great food, and it can be a 5 star restaurant, a family diner, a taco truck, or an established fast food place. We're not food snobs at the RJG.

We welcome other writers to the RJG, so please drop us a line if interested!

Contributors

Ratings

5 - Best of the Best! We rarely give this rating out (less than a handful). Must be a truly exceptional place that we've been to many times, over many years, and never fails. No new place can get a 5. This one takes time to achieve.4.5 - Super, one of the RJG's favorite restaurants. This is also a rare designation and truly represents some of our all-time favorites. Must have visited 3 times to receive this grade.4 - Excellent, and worth going to over and over in a year (and sometimes we do just that if time allows).3.5 - Very good, and we may go 2 to 3 times a year.3 - Good, perhaps worth a visit on rare occasion. Maybe once a year or every other year.2.5 - Average, would need encouragement to go back at all.2 - Disappointing, not what we had hoped or expected.1.5 - Terrible, and recommend strongly against.1 - Difficult to finish the meal it's so bad.0.5 - Walked out in disgust. Calling health department... (there's only one of these and not recorded here)